Finding the right live-in care provider is a decision that affects the whole family. It’s worth looking beyond the initial carer match to understand how care is assessed, how carers are supported, who remains involved once care begins and what happens if your loved one’s needs change.
Independent People and Consultus Care take different approaches in some important areas, which are worth considering before you make a decision.
The quick answer
If you’re looking for a straightforward managed live-in care service, both Independent People and Consultus offer options worth considering.
The more important question is what level of care and clinical oversight does your loved one need?
Consultus offers fully managed live-in care in which carers are supervised, managed and monitored by the organisation. It also provides a separate live-in nursing service delivered by registered nurses.
Independent People takes a nurse-led approach to live-in care, with clinical oversight available for appropriate care packages. Its specialist complex care service is regulated for Treatment of Disease, Disorder or Injury (TDDI) and supports people with neurological conditions, physical disabilities, acquired brain injuries, spinal injuries and other complex medical needs.
For someone with relatively straightforward care needs, the choice may come down to the style of service and support offered. For someone with complex or changing needs, the level of clinical oversight, specialist expertise and rehabilitation support may be more important.
At-a-glance comparison
| Consultus Care | Independent People Live-in Care | |
| Service model | Offers introductory live-in care, fully managed live-in care and live-in nursing services. | Provides fully managed live-in care, including nurse-led support for appropriate complex-care packages. |
| Managed care | In its managed service, carers are supervised, managed and monitored by Consultus. A Care Consultant assesses needs and develops and reviews the care plan. | Care is managed through an experienced team, with assessment, care planning, ongoing reviews and clinical oversight for appropriate care packages. |
| Complex care | Provides managed care for people with more complex needs, alongside a separate live-in nursing service. | Provides complex care, with nurse-led oversight and clinically informed care planning available for appropriate packages, including care regulated for the treatment of disease, disorder or injury. |
| Clinical expertise | Its separate live-in nursing service is delivered by registered nurses with at least three years’ post-qualification experience. | Takes a nurse-led approach, with registered nurses and healthcare professionals providing clinical oversight for appropriate care packages. |
| Rehabilitation | Provides care and nursing support that can adapt as a person’s needs change. | Integrates physiotherapy exercises into personalised care plans and can provide rehabilitation-focused support for appropriate clients. |
| Provider experience | Established in 1962, with more than 60 years of experience in live-in care and nursing. | Has provided live-in care since 2006, with experience supporting people with dementia, neurological conditions and complex care needs. |
What types of live-in care does Consultus offer?
One of the first things to understand about Consultus is that it does not operate under a single live-in care model.
It offers:
- Introductory live-in care
- Fully managed live-in care
- Live-in nursing
With its introductory service, Consultus recruits a self-employed carer who works independently for the customer. Consultus states that it does not direct, supervise or manage the carer under this model.
Its managed service is different. Consultus says it supervises, manages and monitors carers, pays them directly and provides a care management structure around the placement.
Consultus also offers live-in nursing, where registered nurses provide care in the person’s home. It states that its live-in nurses have a minimum of three years’ post-qualification experience and experience across areas including community and acute nursing and palliative care.
This means families comparing Consultus with another provider need to establish which Consultus service they are actually comparing.
What does Independent People’s managed live-in care include?
Independent People’s approach is centred on fully managed live-in care, with a nurse-led approach for appropriate care packages.
The service can include:
- Assessment of individual care and health needs
- Personalised care planning
- One-to-one live-in support
- Clinical oversight from registered nurses and healthcare professionals
- Ongoing review as needs change
- Supervision and competency assessment of carers
- Liaison with healthcare professionals and wider care teams
- Support with complex clinical needs where appropriately assessed
- 24/7 on-call support
For complex care packages, Independent People is registered with the CQC for Treatment of Disease, Disorder or Injury. Its published service information describes support, including tracheostomy care, gastrostomy and feeding support, medication management, epilepsy care, respiratory support and rehabilitation.
The precise support available will always depend on an individual’s needs, assessment and the appropriate clinical arrangements.
For families who prefer an introductory model, the same group also offers this through its sister company, Ivy Palmer, which introduces self-employed live-in carers to clients who wish to manage the ongoing care arrangement themselves.
Is nurse-led care the same as live-in nursing?
Not necessarily. This is an important distinction when comparing the two providers.
Consultus offers live-in nursing as a separate service, provided by registered nurses.
Independent People’s nurse-led model combines live-in care with clinical oversight from registered nurses and healthcare professionals for appropriate care packages.
For some people, a live-in nurse may be clinically necessary. For others, a trained live-in carer supported by a nurse-led clinical team may provide the appropriate balance of personal care, independence and clinical oversight.
The important thing is to establish who will actually provide the day-to-day care and what clinical support sits behind them.
How does clinical expertise matter when care needs are complex?
A person’s needs can extend well beyond personal care.
Someone recovering from a brain injury, living with a neurological condition or managing a spinal injury may need support with mobility, medication, nutrition, continence, respiratory needs or rehabilitation.
In these situations, families should ask:
- Who assesses the clinical needs?
- Who reviews the care plan?
- Who assesses carer competency for specialist tasks?
- Who liaises with healthcare professionals?
- What happens if the person’s condition changes?
- What clinical support is available to the carer?
Independent People’s nurse-led service is specifically designed around this type of need. Its clinical team can work alongside NHS professionals, case managers, occupational therapists, physiotherapists and other healthcare professionals to coordinate care at home.
Consultus also has significant clinical capability through its managed care and live-in nursing services. Its live-in nursing team includes registered nurses with experience across community, acute and palliative care.
The right option therefore depends on the person’s clinical needs and whether they require a nurse as the primary live-in professional or a nurse-led care package with appropriately trained carers.
What role does rehabilitation play in live-in care?
For some people, the goal of care is not simply maintaining the status quo.
After a stroke, brain injury, spinal injury, surgery or hospital admission, rehabilitation may be an important part of returning to everyday life.
Independent People has a particular focus on physiotherapy-led rehabilitation within appropriate live-in care plans. Its service includes physiotherapy exercises designed around individual rehabilitation needs, with support from a resident physiotherapist.
Its spinal injury service also describes working with physiotherapists, occupational therapists, rehabilitation consultants and case managers to support rehabilitation goals within the home.
Live-in carers can support physiotherapy exercises where these form part of an individual’s care and rehabilitation needs, so this is something worth discussing with any provider. The distinction is that Independent People offers a formal physiotherapy-led approach, with rehabilitation exercises incorporated into appropriate personalised care plans.
If rehabilitation is important to your loved one’s care, ask each provider how physiotherapy or other therapy recommendations can be incorporated into everyday routines, who develops the programme and how progress will be reviewed.
How are carers recruited and supported?
The person providing day-to-day care will have an enormous influence on the experience of live-in care.
Consultus describes a rigorous recruitment process and says its introductory carers undergo checks including DBS and right-to-work checks. Its wider organisation also highlights its own training centre and ongoing training and development.
Independent People also places emphasis on recruitment, vetting, training and ongoing assessment. Its published information describes enhanced DBS checks, professional references, competency assessments and ongoing performance monitoring.
When comparing providers, don’t just ask how a carer is selected. Ask what happens after they start.
Who supervises them? Who can they turn to when care becomes difficult? How is competency maintained? What happens if the relationship isn’t working?
Those questions can tell you considerably more about the support structure behind a live-in care placement.
How does care management work?
Consultus says its managed service provides a dedicated Care Consultant who undertakes a comprehensive assessment, develops the care plan and regularly reviews it. It also says its Care Consultants support relatively small numbers of clients in their local areas.
Independent People also provides ongoing management and clinical oversight rather than treating the initial placement as the end of the provider’s involvement.
Its nurse-led service includes assessment and risk evaluation, care planning, ongoing supervision and competency assessment, and liaison with GPs, consultants, therapists and case managers where appropriate.
For families, the useful question is therefore not simply whether a provider says it offers “managed care”. Ask who will actually manage the care, how often they will review it and what happens when the person’s needs change.
What happens when care needs change?
Care arrangements need to be able to evolve.
A person may initially need help with mobility and personal care but later require more complex support. Alternatively, they may improve following rehabilitation and require a different level of assistance.
Both Consultus and Independent People describe care as adaptable as needs change. Consultus says its managed care plans are regularly reviewed and updated, while Independent People describes evolving care plans and ongoing clinical review.
How do Independent People and Consultus compare on customer reviews?
Recent customer feedback provides another useful point of comparison. On homecare.co.uk, Independent People currently has a 9.9/10 Review Score based on 31 reviews from the last two years, while Consultus has a 9.5/10 Review Score based on eight reviews from the same period.
Both scores indicate very strong recent customer feedback. However, homecare.co.uk’s Review Score takes account of factors including the number, recency and ratings of reviews, so the headline score should be considered alongside the individual reviews and the wider information available about each provider.
You can view the Independent People reviews and Consultus reviews to see what clients and their families say about their experiences.
Which provider is right for complex care?
For someone with straightforward personal care needs, several managed live-in care providers may be able to offer an appropriate service.
The comparison becomes more important when care involves complex medical or neurological needs.
Independent People’s complex-care service takes a nurse-led approach, with clinical oversight available for appropriate care packages supporting people with acquired brain injuries, spinal injuries, neurological conditions, complex epilepsy and other long-term medical needs.”
Consultus has a different but also clinically focused proposition, with both managed live-in care and a separate live-in nursing service. Its nurses have experience in areas including acute, community and palliative nursing.
The right choice will depend on whether your loved one needs a managed care package, a live-in nurse or a combination of personal care and clinical oversight.
What should you ask before choosing between Independent People and Consultus?
Before making a decision, ask both providers:
- Which service do you recommend for my loved one’s needs?
- Who will provide the day-to-day care?
- Will a registered nurse be involved?
- Who assesses and reviews the care plan?
- What clinical tasks can the care team support?
- How are carers trained and assessed for those tasks?
- Who supervises the carer?
- What happens if care needs become more complex?
- How quickly can the care package be changed?
- How is rehabilitation incorporated where appropriate?
- What support is available outside normal office hours?
- How are breaks and replacement carers managed?
- What is included in the quoted cost?
- Which aspects of the service are CQC-regulated?
The answers should give you a much clearer picture of the service you are actually buying.
Why might families choose Independent People Live-in Care?
Independent People combines one-to-one live-in care with nurse-led clinical oversight.
Its particular strengths include:
- CQC regulated care, currently rated Good
- Nurse-led oversight for appropriate complex-care packages
- CQC registration for Treatment of Disease, Disorder or Injury
- Experience supporting neurological, spinal and acquired brain injuries
- Clinical oversight from registered nurses and healthcare professionals
- Physiotherapy and rehabilitation support within appropriate care plans
- Experience working with NHS professionals, case managers and multidisciplinary teams
- Fully vetted and assessed carers
- 24/7 on-call support
- Care plans that can adapt as needs change
The aim isn’t simply to provide someone to live in the home. It is to build a supported care arrangement around the person’s health, independence, routines and longer-term goals.
Talk to us about your circumstances
If you’re considering live-in care and want to understand whether a nurse-led, fully managed approach could be suitable, call Independent People on 0800 471 4741 or fill in our online enquiry form.
The team can discuss your loved one’s needs, explain the level of support available and help you understand what a managed live-in care package could look like.